Final Bout Coverage (Part 2 of 3)

Welcome back to our part 2 coverage. Click here for part 1 in case you missed it. Photos by Brad Sillars.

-Ilia Smolov (Team Proceed)

The vibe in the pits on Saturday morning was absolutely palpable. Everyone at the driver’s meeting was so excited just to be in the same place at the same time as some of their favorite amateur drivers. I started out the driver’s meeting with a Vin Diesel pose and said something along the lines of “This is… BRAZIL!”

Proceed lined up at the intermediate course, ready to go.

We didn’t waste any time driving with our friends from out of town during the free runs. This shot has Julian from Animal Style leading, Ryan from Animal style following, me following Ryan in my Proceed Cressida, and Jordan following all of us in his Miata. It was a privilege to be part of that tandem!

ShaDynasty getting some practice runs in before the competition on Sunday. These guys looked amazing all day!

Animal style laid down absolutely flawless runs, one after another. The livery and paint on the cars was super exciting too.

Simba spent some time following Jack from the Hot Boyz in his JZX81 Cresta. Both cars look amazing driving together!

Final Boat was no joke! Here is me piloting my giant land yacht through an ocean that formed at the bottom of the USAIR corkscrew- one of my favorite points at the course.

The seasoned veterans of Oops just wanted to put on a great show for the crowd. Brian Peter, Dave Lee, and Fuminori Kaneko have all been drifting for years, and brought amazing spirit to Final Bout.

Risky Devil brought a ton of style and great driving to Final Bout too. Their cars were perfectly coordinated, and the drivers have spent years drifting together. It showed in their great tandem runs!

Simba takes a solo run, and casually brushes past the wall. I didn’t get to be on the spectator side of the fence this weekend, but I’m sure runs like these were super exciting to watch.

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HotBoyz are lining up for one of their practice runs. I love how their tan cars look together.

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Derek’s silver S14 was easily one of the best looking cars of the weekend. This car had perfect paint, Ganador super mirrors, was super low, and had an awesome interior. What more could you ask for?

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Hert tests his FC. His car was having trouble all weekend, but it didn’t stop him from going out and doing some awesome laps.

Sadly Jordan’s HotBoyz Miata tapped a wall following Leigh on Saturday, taking him out of the competition on Sunday. His extremely well built front crash bar saved the car, and he managed to repair the pretty intense looking damage over the course of the weekend! Stay tuned for our last portion of Final Bout Coverage…

Final Bout Coverage (Part 1 of 3)

It’s possible that describing Final Bout to the uninitiated may be an exercise in futility. To understand why these particular three days at this particular patch of concrete in this particular tiny town in Wisconsin are being called “historic”, “monumental”, or “epic” takes a bit of inside knowledge of drifting both as it is now in the US, and as it has been for decades in Japan. Simply put, drift style and culture in the US and in Japan are on progressively deviating trajectories. While some in the US are happy to participate in the US “way of things”, there are many of us that have grown up admiring the drifting that we saw in Japan, and are still inspired by our heroes there today. Names like A-Bo-Moon, Burst, 326 Power, Hoshino, Dart Izumi, Sexy Knights, and so many others still give us goose bumps.

Final Bout was created to pursue that aura, here in the US. With the help of some of the most experienced drivers and organizations in America, Final Bout set out to allow fans of Japanese drifting to live out their dreams. One of the oldest drift organizations in America- ClubFR- worked with USA International Raceway and three of the most respected names in US drift culture to give drivers an environment that would support incredibly stylish cars and wild driving.

Drivers and judges came to Shawano Wisconsin from all over the US and Canada to drive together, and although a team tandem contest was the claimed focus for the event, everyone in attendance knew that our real reason for being there was to enjoy drifting in its most pure form. Every time I rode a bike through the pits to announce a driver’s meeting or track start time I saw smiling faces and people who were ecstatic simply to be in the same place at the same time.

It’s possible that my take on this weekend won’t begin to describe the significance it held for every attending driver. It’s possible that people reading this article won’t understand, and will be confused as to why so many have called Final Bout the best drift weekend of their lives. Looking back at the Final Bout weekend, I can say one thing with confidence- 20 teams came from thousands of miles away having never met some of their fellow drivers, and left Final Bout with 20 teams’ worth of new brothers. Please enjoy these photos, presented by Brad Sillars and JDM Chicago. Part 2 and 3 will hopefully be dropped before the end of the weekend.

-Ilia Smolov (Team Proceed)

ShaDynasty came all the way from Seattle with their awesome mix of cars. The X83 Cressida has a 500 horsepower 2JZ engine, while the Celica and Mango are both using 3S Beams engines with individual throttle bodies, making 200 or so horsepower a piece.

I love the Celica and the Mango. They’re both incredibly unique cars, and with the 3SGE engines are not something you see much in the US or Japan. Combine that with the fact that Mark, Paul, and Matt are amazing drivers, and ShaDynasty made for a super exciting team to watch.

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The guys from GoldStar came all the way from the Sacramento area to drive Final Bout. One of their drivers didn’t bring a car and took professional truck driving classes, just to get a CDL so that he could drive their amazing rig out to USAIR. Talk about dedication… You can see the tan HotBoyz cars in the background of the second shot, too.

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The HotBoyz S13 look great all weekend with its Julius aero and 326 Power wing. The car is 1JZ powered and he had no trouble riding the wall. Tyler (pictured in the bottom photo) drove his kouki aero 180sx all the way from Los Angeles, across the entire US. When the HotBoyz needed a 3^rd driver for the team tandem competition, Tyler was happy to help.

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Animal Style made huge waves with their amazing matching livery and super bright paint colors. Ryan Kado’s car was built specifically for Final Bout, and just in time for the event. These guys are amazing drivers and were huge fun to watch!

Even though Josh Buado and Ryan Hanlon did not get to drive at Final Bout, they still came to support their friends and team-mates from Tracker.

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Bosstown brought three incredibly stylish cars to Final Bout- two 180s in matching red, and a Cressida in a similar red color. These guys looked absolutely perfect rolling in to the pits on Friday.

Opposite line from Canada brought out an extremely stylish S14, an R32, and an A31 Cefiro. Each car was very clean and made tons of power.

The Breaking cars had great team unity with matching blue color, vinyl, and wheels. These guys have been a team in the Midwest for a while now, and we wouldn’t have had a complete Final Bout without them!

High Fade came out with a huge bang with four super clean and very stylish black V8 powered cars. Their driving was incredible all weekend!

Brad also decided to take a photo of my Cressida. It’s not the prettiest car at Final Bout, but I love it for its comfort and amazing 1JZ sound. Be on the lookout for Part 2 for some real action!

Luis’ 1971 Datsun 510 Wagon

Back in 2006 Luis was living in Massachusetts. As a Wisconsin native, the east coast never really grew on Luis. He often found himself coming back home to visit friends and family. On one fateful trip, an uncle invited Luis to a family BBQ. The usual great food and company was anticipated, but he never expected to find the gem of the car you see featured today.

Luis had not see his uncle since early childhood. Much to Luis’ surprise, his uncle was a fellow car enthusiast. Tucked away and barely covered by a weathered tarp, Luis recognized those familiar headlights and grill of a Datsun 510. At that moment he knew the wagon had to be his, but he didn’t know how attached his uncle was to the vehicle.

After a few beers, Luis finally mustered up the courage to ask his uncle what his plans were for the 510. His uncle had some bold ideas and even considered a rotary swap. Unfortunately, his plans never came to fruition due to his busy schedule. At that point Luis asked if he would consider selling the car to his “favorite nephew.” His uncle gingerly laughed and before you knew it, Luis was the proud new owner of a Datsun 510 Wagon…or so he thought.

Luis flew back to Massachusetts a few days later and was in a state of shock that he landed his dream car. Luis called his uncle first thing on Monday to finalize details of the sale. His uncle was surprised to hear that Luis was serious on the offer. Regretfully, Luis’ uncle informed him the car was promised to his own son. Luis was obviously disappointed, but understood the circumstances.

A year later Luis heard from the grapevine that his cousin was looking to purchase a truck and needed a loan. Luis thought this might be a good opportunity to finally be reunited with the wagon. Luis immediately called his cousin and instead of loaning him the money, Luis struck a deal to purchase the wagon outright. This was a win/win for both parties.

A year later Luis ended up moving back to Wisconsin and reality finally set in. The 510 looked almost the same as Luis remembered it. Initially Luis thought of simply slamming the car and keeping the original faded paint. However, Luis’ cousin started some work and partially primed the car. This meant that Luis had to switch gears with his plan.

With the move back home money was a bit tight. Rather then keeping the car a two-tone mess, Luis rattle-canned the car as a temporary solution until he was able to properly restore the car.

Several years went by and the 510 essentially stayed the same while Luis was able to save money and acquire parts. Luis was finally ready in late 2013. Great Lakes Autobody was procured for some light restoration, shaving, custom flares, and finally paint.

There are still things on Luis’ list that need to be addressed such as the interior and engine. For now, Luis is very happy with how the car turned out and simply enjoys driving the car as often as he can. We look forward to seeing what’s next for this wagon!

-jdmchicago

Info & Mod List

1971 Datsun 510 Wagon

-JDM L18 W53
-4speed transmission
-Suspension Ground Control coilovers
-280zx shorten housing
-MR2 inserts
-T3 camber plates,
-2″ lowering Flexform rear springs
-Monroe rear airshocks
-3inch blocks
-280zx front brakes with hawk pads
-Work Equip 01 Wheels (15×8.5 & 15×9)
-Toyo Tires
-OEM Color Nissan Blue
-NOS emblems
-Customs Fender Flares
-Shaved rocker moldings
-Rear hatch vents shaved
-re-chromed front bumper/door handles
-JDM front grille
-BRE front lip
-JDM fender mirror
-Recaro front seats
-Grant wheel
-JDM center console

JDMC Summer Collection

Thanks to Salina Xay for modeling our latest “Zilla” shirt & tank. We also have our popular Option-Style snapback hat now in black. Finally, we listened to your requests about Lanyards and picked up the best possible one on the market. This lanyard even has its own bottle opener! You can purchase all these items by visiting our store.

Willy Izaguirre’s 1968 Datsun 2000 Roadster

Earlier this summer I was very excited to hear that Willy was bringing his beautiful Roadster to Offset Kings (Chicago). It’s not too often you see a Datsun 2000 restored and modified to this level. You could say that Willy took a “resto mod” approach to the build. Prior to Offset Kings, I wanted to post up some photos of his car on the blog. What better way to hype the event then to show one of the higher quality builds in attendance? Luckily my good friend Andrew Link supplied some phenomenal images of the Roadster he shot for Super Street Magazine. Unfortunately, Willy had some transmission issues at the last minute and his car was unable to make the trip. It’s since been fixed, but sadly the timing did not work out for the show. Anyways, here are the bonus shots that we never put on the site. Enjoy!

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